Your Partner In People
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Since 2016, the National Fried Chicken Festival (FCF) presented by Raising Cane's, has brought thousands of guests to New Orleans in a multi-day event featuring food, music, and culture. For the 2023 installation, the goal was no different; provide a unique experience and amplify unique voices.
The festival has continuously scaled year after year and with growth, comes inevitable growing pains. brought on as sponsorship liaisons, FCF entrusted our team to manage 15 of the festival sponsors that helped make the event possible. In addition to facilitating sponsorship benefits such as social media marketing and on-site logo recognition, our team was enlisted to creatively strategize each sponsor's activation concepts.
Our approach stemmed from this question: How do we make an already iconic festival...better?
Beyond logo and brand recognition, we worked with the FCF partners to create experiences that prioritized engagement, entertainment, and our specialty, impact.
Stretching our event design muscles, we successfully organized on-site booth's for both national and local brands such as Kraft Heinz, AT&T, Chandon, Crown Royal, Louisiana Fish Fry, and Entergy. Each booth was curated with intention to be as inclusive and diverse as the festival guests.
For example, The New Schools for New Orleans (NSNO) aimed to empower families who have a hard time attending high volume events due to a lack of accessibility or family-friendly activities. NSNO created a family zone that included a space to play games, learn and unwind the sensory van.
Crown Royal and Chandon curated exclusive VIP experiences, offering guests the opportunity to indulge in an elevated festival atmosphere with custom seating, complimentary food, and drinks. And of course, we showcased the best of New Orleans culture with NOTCF's vendor marketplace and Nola & Co.'s influencer and media lounge.
The two-day festival brought over 123,000 guests to New Orleans resulting in an estimated $3.5 million in direct economic impact. The festival fed into the rich heritage and culture of New Orleans through music lineups that included 3 stages and a “50 years of Hip-Hop” celebration. More than 50 food vendors from across the country were represented at the festival, creating opportunities for small and local businesses. Making inclusive strides, the festival was fully Handicap Accessible for the first time in six years. Best of all (in our opinion), the FCF team was led by mostly women and people of color from start to finish!
